Let's take our Bibles and look together in the book of Lamentations, a book written by the prophet Jeremiah. And my text is Lamentations chapter three, beginning with verse 18 down to verse 26. This book, Lamentations, which means sorrows, was written by the prophet Jeremiah at a time just before the destruction of Jerusalem about 500 years before Christ. And we have here how Jeremiah was burdened with the weight of the impending judgment that would come upon Jerusalem through which he himself would live as well. This is why some called him the weeping prophet. In many ways, he's a type of our Lord Jesus Christ in that our Lord called the man of sorrows acquainted with grief. Just as Jeremiah was called upon to go through and see for himself the destruction of Jerusalem, So our Lord Jesus Christ was called upon to suffer and to die and to bear the sin of that people that the Father gave him. So here in Lamentations chapter three, In verse 18 we have these words that express his burden and his affliction and his sorrow. Notice in verse 18 of Lamentations 3 he says, And I said, my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. Verse 19, remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gull. He says in verse 20, my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me. But here then is the hope and that's really the title of this message hope in the lord in verse twenty-one he said this i recall to my mind therefore have i hope what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what what in this message, what is a good hope, a true hope in the Lord? Because there are times and seasons that God may be pleased to bring us low and bring a great burden and affliction upon our own hearts, but where is our hope? It is in the Lord. As we study this portion, we see that both the affliction and the hope are from the Lord. I know sometimes when we greet each other, we say to each other, when asked, well, how are you doing? We'll say better than I deserve. Well, that's what Jeremiah is saying here in verse 22. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. For any of us, even to be able to be alive and breathe the air that God gives us is a mercy. But even more so spiritually and eternally, if God has not cast us into hell, it is only because of his mercies that we are not consumed. And it says, because his compassions fail not. Verse 22. So this is what it is to hope in the Lord. It's to see his mercies in Christ Jesus and the fact that Christ himself has borne all of the sin of his people and therefore we are not consumed. But you notice in verse 23, it goes on. It's not just that we're not consumed, but he says, the mercies of the Lord are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. For those that are the Lord's, he doesn't just give you a bunch of mercy and say, okay, that's it. You have to live on it and make sure it lasts. No, his mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. And then verse 24, we're looking at what it is to hope in the Lord. It's to have the Lord himself as our hope. He says, The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him. Now, why is it that we hope in the Lord? Well, verse 25, it says the Lord is good unto them that wait for him. There's no goodness in us, but the Lord is good to the soul that seeketh him. But even that is of the Lord. Otherwise, we would not seek Him. We would not wait for Him. So in His mercies toward us, He draws us. He causes us to wait for Him. He causes our soul to seek Him. And then verse 26, which is the final scripture I'll look at with you in this message. He says, it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait. for the salvation of the Lord. I know that any of us that are the Lord's, we can relate to what Jeremiah is writing here because the Lord has brought us through times and seasons of affliction and burden and sorrow that's part of living in this world. But here's a message of comfort and hope for those that have the Lord as their portion. This isn't for everybody. This again is for those that God in his grace, his purpose to redeem by his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, their hope then is in him. But again, as we look at how Jeremiah is expressing this burden and this sorrow And yet hoping in the Lord, we see a type and picture of what it was for the Lord Jesus Christ to be the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Where was his hope? His hope was in his father, that his father would accept the work that he came to accomplish for his people and thereby deliver him. The one sort of thing I'm all about is that, you know, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, But are there not times in our lives where even though we are the children of God, it seems as if God has shut out our prayers. Jeremiah expressed that all the way up in verse eight, that says, when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. In other words, it's as if God were not hearing him. Certainly our Lord Jesus, when he cried unto his father, there were some who thought that God was not hearing him, but God hears every prayer of his son. And even so, with us as God's children, there are times when we will cry unto Him in our burden, and it would seem as if God were not hearing. But we can be assured that God answers every prayer according to His will. It's not according to our will, but it's according to His will. And look at how Jeremiah describes this particular oppression. For example, in verse 10, He describes it as a bear lying in wait, or as a lion in secret places. It's like a person walking down a path not expecting anything to go wrong and suddenly a wild animal comes out of the woods and attacks. That's how Jeremiah is describing what he's experiencing at this particular point in his life. But notice here to whom he attributes these afflictions. It's to the Lord. He recognizes that even this is from the Lord. You see, in verse nine, he, that's speaking of God, hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone. He hath made my paths crooked. You can't just say that God is directing whenever everything is going well, even in the affliction that is from the hand of God. Same thing in verse 10 and verse 11, verse 12, verse 13, they all begin with he, speaking of the Lord. He, verse 11, hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in places and pieces. He hath made me desolate. Look in verse 12. He hath bent his bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. The figure there is of a powerful archer that pulls back the bow and drives the arrow into the heart Such was this affliction upon Jeremiah by the Lord at this particular time, that he says, as we saw in verse 18, now getting back to my text, my strength and my hope is perished, but notice from the Lord, even this is from the Lord. You see, this is a God that this world does not know. People are being told today that if they just live right and do right, that God will bless them with great blessings and that they will only know blessing and not sorrow. But those of us that are the Lord's, that He's taught by His Spirit, we know that there are times and seasons, yes, where God does bless and keep us from grievous sorrows, but there are other times when his purpose is to bring us through great trial and great sorrow. Well, the answer is that we would not put any confidence ever in this flesh. The Lord strips us, like it says in verse 18, takes away our strength and our hope that it not be in ourselves. Did you find out again how we don't set up in a goodie? I'm going to love one. Can he cause a little goodie? You have a little more. I'm a little less than you don't say. We're not going to fail to do the same on the buses. I'm going to look as well. Car defy again. The main thing I would not because that's what I do. Why over? And that's what Jeremiah describes there in verse 19, to remember our affliction and our misery as wormwood and gall. In other words, our sin, who we are as sinners before the Lord, that if he's not merciful, we would perish. So here we see that it is a good thing when the Lord causes our soul to sink all the way to the bottom, to the point that we have no hope in ourselves. God purposes that, that that hope not be built on anything in us, but upon Christ alone. God purposes. Notice twice here in verse 19, the word remembering. is used, and then in verse 20, my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me. God purposes that we remember these times and trials as we look back over our lives, lest we should ever put any confidence in this flesh. There are those that falsely preach that if you're the Lord's and you devote yourself to him and strive to be better every day, that little by little, you will sin less and less. That's what they preach, but that's far from what the scriptures teach. Were we not just as much sinners now as we ever were, then we wouldn't need the chastening of the Lord. The scriptures say, whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son. So it's when the Lord brings to remembrance, as Jeremiah speaks of here in verse 19 and 20. As we remember through these afflictions who we are and we're humbled, it's then under the mighty hand of God that hope revives, that our eyes are turned to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's where it's important for us to understand that anything that we endure, we deserve it. But consider what the Lord Jesus Christ endured in His affliction, being without sin, and yet was chastened of His Father. The chastisement of our peace fell upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Whatever affliction that we endure as children of God, we can say with assurance that there's not an ounce of wrath in anything that God gives us because Christ has already borne that wrath. Yes, there are times when we're going through those seasons that we think that God is against us, but he isn't. It's like a father chasing his child. That child might think that the father is angry with the child, but he's not. Not in a sense of wrath or wanting to put the child away, but to correct the child. And so during these times and seasons of affliction, and they may be physical, or they might be spiritual in our very hearts and our souls, the troubles that the Lord brings. All of this is purposed that we not hope in ourselves, that we be humbled and that our hope be in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. You see, times of affliction are times of reflection where the Lord sets us down, literally. puts us on our seat or on our back, so to speak, and causes us to reflect on His mercies and reflect on who we are as sinners and reflect on our need of Him every day. And that's why Jeremiah in verse 21, Lamentations 3, 21, again, he uses a word like remembrance when he says, this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. This is where hope is born. It's against the backdrop of our sin. We would never understand the grace of God Were it not that God by his spirit show us our sin. We would not understand the Lord's mercies were it not for these times and seasons where the Lord removes all hope in ourselves. Back in the early 1920s, my grandparents went to Africa. And at that time, the only way to get into the interior of Africa, which is known today as Chad or Central African Republic, they had to go up through South Africa. And they took a ship to what is today called the Cape of Good Hope. That's not too far from where you all are. So you probably know what I'm speaking of. But what you may not realize is that that Cape was not always known as the Cape of Good Hope. The first name given to that cape was actually called Cape of Storms. And it was called that because many of the Portuguese explorers, when they tried to land in South Africa and attempted to get into the harbor, many of them suffered shipwreck. But it took somebody like a forerunner of these explorers finally to figure out the way in in order to be able to land safely. I was saying that it took some of these explorers like forerunners to be able to get in safely for others to follow. And that's where the name was changed from Cape of Storms to the Cape of Good Hope. And here we see a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our forerunner, who took the chastisement of our peace upon him, and by his stripes we are healed, and through him we are safe and we have a good hope. But we see there that this is what Jeremiah is caused to recall to mind. He says in verse 21, therefore have I hope. When we remember what the Lord himself endured to pay the sin debt of sinners such as we are, we have hope. But ultimately, what is our comfort? What is it to have a good hope? It's not in us, it's in the Lord. And if you look at verse 22, you look at verse 24, and you look at verse 25, here are the three reasons for sinners to have hope in the Lord. You see in verse 22, to hope in the Lord is because with the Lord is mercy. He says it is of the Lord's mercies that were not consumed because his compassions fail not. How is God merciful? It's through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, he does not punish his children because Christ has already born that punishment. Therefore, he is merciful and therefore we're not consumed. Secondly, down there in verse 24, the Lord is our hope in that He is our portion. For him to be our portion means he is our salvation. A portion is something that you take and eat in order to satisfy your hunger. Well, that's what we do. We partake of Christ. We feed on him as the bread of life in these times of affliction and sorrow. Christ once said to his disciples, if you ask a bread, will he give you a stone? No. In this life, if the Lord were to take everything physical away from us and we have nothing of this world's materials left, yet the Lord is our portion, that of our soul forever. So to have the Lord as our hope is to have His mercy. To have the Lord as our hope is to have the Lord as our portion. And then verse 25, to have the Lord as our hope is to have the goodness of the Lord. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him. That's what he does. He brings us to wait. We can do nothing else but wait for him. And in that, he is good. That word weight is something that is impossible for us apart from the grace of God. In our flesh, we want quick solutions. Whenever there's trouble or affliction, then we want a way out quickly. But no, the Lord in His goodness uses these times to cause us to wait on Him. And that's why he says there in verse 26, it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait, what, for the salvation of the Lord. Hoping and waiting differ from each other only as a mother and a daughter. Hope is the mother. Through hope, The waiting comes. And all of that brings quietness. Quietness is necessary to waiting for in that the Lord then shows us that he is faithful. Well, I pray the Lord will use what we've heard to encourage our own hearts through everything that the Lord is bringing us through and in all things may he be glorified. you